77 replies to this topic

[Poptop]

Drez: Cute brewery assistant! But get some steel-toed shoes on him! Safety, safety!

Is that the same assistant who worked from his highchair a little while back?

[HVB]

Is that the same assistant who worked from his highchair a little while back?

Same one!! He will be 4 in March.

 

And Ken, I agree on the shoes.  He snuck down to "help" and most of the time spent it in a chair watching but he could not help himself with the bubbles!!

[Big Nake]

So here's a question that went through my brain last night... this stuff seems like it's very stiff. My draft fridges are small (like 4.4cf). So I envision getting everything in place and then bundling it up in a circle and maybe zip-tying it so that things are somewhat organized in the fridge. Will it kink? 10' of stiff tubing inside of a 4.4cf fridge (that also has the capacity to kink) sounds like an issue. With my current setup using 5' of standard beer line, would anyone assume immediately that I could use maybe 6-7' of this stuff without an issue? Also, for anyone using 10' of this stuff, let me know what pressure you're serving at. I realize all systems are different... my fridges sit on a 13" high platform that I built and the CO2 is inside the fridge. The tops of the kegs are right at the heights of the shanks (ish) so I'm pushing beer up and out about the height of a ball-lock keg.

Drez: It's a fact. Kids like bubbles.

[Poptop]

Drez: It's a fact. Kids like bubbles.

I'd be lying if I said that during tomorrows brew I won't scoop a bunch of star san bubbles and blow the on to the driveway just for fun

[Big Nake]

I'd be lying if I said that during tomorrows brew I won't scoop a bunch of star san bubbles and blow the on to the driveway just for fun

Ha, kids.

[matt6150]

So here's a question that went through my brain last night... this stuff seems like it's very stiff. My draft fridges are small (like 4.4cf). So I envision getting everything in place and then bundling it up in a circle and maybe zip-tying it so that things are somewhat organized in the fridge. Will it kink? 10' of stiff tubing inside of a 4.4cf fridge (that also has the capacity to kink) sounds like an issue. With my current setup using 5' of standard beer line, would anyone assume immediately that I could use maybe 6-7' of this stuff without an issue? Also, for anyone using 10' of this stuff, let me know what pressure you're serving at. I realize all systems are different... my fridges sit on a 13" high platform that I built and the CO2 is inside the fridge. The tops of the kegs are right at the heights of the shanks (ish) so I'm pushing beer up and out about the height of a ball-lock keg.

Drez: It's a fact. Kids like bubbles.

I haven't had any problems with kinking. I think you will just have to play with it when you get it to see how it works for your system. You may be able to go shorter being your kegs are more inline with the taps. Mine rise 1'-2' above the top of the keg and I'm running 12psi.
Btw you need to look in my tannin thread.

[Big Nake]

I haven't had any problems with kinking. I think you will just have to play with it when you get it to see how it works for your system. You may be able to go shorter being your kegs are more inline with the taps. Mine rise 1'-2' above the top of the keg and I'm running 12psi.
Btw you need to look in my tannin thread.

Matt: Thanks. I'll be updating this once I install the new line and parts. Tannin thread responded to! You found the source of your problem my friend.

[Brauer]

You may be able to go shorter being your kegs are more inline with the taps. Mine rise 1'-2' above the top of the keg and I'm running 12psi.

Wouldn't he need longer lines if his legs were higher, relative to his taps? (Assuming everything else is identical, which it won't be.)

[matt6150]

Wouldn't he need longer lines if his legs were higher, relative to his taps? (Assuming everything else is identical, which it won't be.)

Well now that I think about that you are probably right.

[Brauer]

Wouldn't he need longer lines if his legs were higher, relative to his taps? (Assuming everything else is identical, which it won't be.)

kegs, not legs, of course, lol

[Big Nake]

The tops of my kegs are a few inches lower than the shanks and faucets. I'm not pushing beer up very far. Because this new line has less resistance (if I read that right) I could see a longer line but not necessarily doubling from 5 to 10. Any thoughts are welcome. This is a weak area for me.

[gnef]

What temperature are you keeping your kegs at? The closer to freezing, the lower the pressure you can use and have the same number of volumes of CO2 in solution. You just have to wait a bit for the beer to warm up in your glass.

 

I actually recall most others using 18-20 ft of tubing per tap of the 3/16" ID bev seal ultra.

 

I am using the 1/4" ID tubing to match the John Guest fittings that I had been using for years already (I had to get the Perlick 650ss flow controls to compensate for lack of resistance too). It is fantastic stuff, and I actually don't think I'll ever replace it if I take care of it with regular maintenance.

[Big Nake]

What temperature are you keeping your kegs at? The closer to freezing, the lower the pressure you can use and have the same number of volumes of CO2 in solution. You just have to wait a bit for the beer to warm up in your glass.
 
I actually recall most others using 18-20 ft of tubing per tap of the 3/16" ID bev seal ultra.
 
I am using the 1/4" ID tubing to match the John Guest fittings that I had been using for years already (I had to get the Perlick 650ss flow controls to compensate for lack of resistance too). It is fantastic stuff, and I actually don't think I'll ever replace it if I take care of it with regular maintenance.

My draft fridges are pretty cool... I like cold beer. I guess I just wonder how much pressure I'll need when I'm using 10' of this stuff per line. I'm certain I can balance it out but it may be interesting since I'm not used to using this line.

[Big Nake]

I had a ship notice yesterday which I kind of put in the back of my mind but when I checked it this morning I see that FedEx is delivering TODAY. I'm going to my dad's house to help him with some things and I want to be available by 7pm for the game tonight so I might attempt to do this in the afternoon today. I was just down in the bunker walking through what I need to do and I think I may be able to attempt this with some light rearranging of things. I'll keep everyone posted and maybe I'll even post some pictures! Cheers kids and thanks for the direction & help on this.

EDIT: So when all this stuff arrives, will it be painfully obvious how everything fits together? I'm envisioning everything in my head but how does the beer line fasten to the JG fittings? Again, I assume that when everything is in front of me it will be clear. Any other tools that I need? Any tricks or tips from anyone who has used this specific beer line with these fittings?

[matt6150]

It should be very clear. Basically screw everything together. The line just pushes into the JG fittings. To release just push in on the outside collar and pull the line out. You will just need some wrench's and a good way to cut the tubing nice.

[matt6150]

And like I said before I would probably just start with one tap and get it all installed with 10' of line and see how it pours and adjust from there. Then when you get your final length you can just cut them all at once and install.

[Big Nake]

Okay, good stuff. I envisioned the JG fittings to be that way where you push down to insert or pull out, etc. but I have never played with these things. I will get one line in and attempt to pour and then install the others. Thanks Matt... much appreciated.

[Big Nake]

Okay, so I have everything. My shanks look like this...



I literally have not seen the back side of my shanks since 2010. Is the nipple a permanent part of the shank or does it disconnect? I could find this out myself but I honestly don't want to take a fridge out of the way to find out only to see that the nipple is permanent and I have the wrong JG fittings. As I looked at the one set of JG fittings I was wondering what it connected to. Do I have a way to do this with the parts I have?

[Big Nake]

I did look and it appears to be a welded nipple. So the question becomes whether the new JG piece will fit right over the nipple. Can't tell.

[matt6150]

Well that sucks. I doubt the JG fitting is going to go over the top of that nipple. Unfortunately you will probably have to remove the shank and cut that nipple off. I didn't even think about if you had nipples on the back of the shanks.